This page and its sibling, Psuedo-science
or Proto-science, focus on topics that are ripe for the picking,
scientifically speaking. Like medicinal herbs from the rain forest or the
Himalayan pleteau, they have been used for centuries as vital and effective
tools, but have never been studied systematically by Western science. They
have been studied, however, quite intensively, for hundreds of generations.

The topics Synchronicity, Oracles and Divination, Shrines,
Stupas, and Feng-shui were chosen because of their practical value for
improving the lives of people who use them. Theory and practice have worked
together like the two legs of a human being. Historically, scientific applications
of practical developments have been as common as practical applications
of scientific discoveries.

In the case of the some of topics presented here, Western
science has yet to even comprehend that these disciplines are actually
effective; but formal outcome studies of practical techniques should be
pretty straightforward if the techniques have measurable consequences (which
is part of what it means for something to be practically effective). For
example, if you put a pile of rocks in your yard with some crushed gemstones
and bits of clothing and other odds and ends from some deceased spiritual
teachers and gobs and gobs of prayers written in tiny block printed letters
on very thin paper, and you expect that the mere presence of this construction
will improve the situation for everyone, you can do a formal evaluation
study if you can be clear about what you mean by "improve the situation."

If you're interested, though, don't wait for the scientists:
See for yourself.

Synchronicity; Oracles and Divination

"I have no answer to the multitude of problems that
arise when we seek to harmonize the oracle...with our accepted scientific
cannons.... The irrational fullness of life has taught me never to discard
anything, even when it goes against all our best theories (so short lived
at best) or otherwise admits of no immediate explanation. It is of course
disquieting, and one is not certain whether the compass is pointing true
or not; but security, certitude, and peace do not lead to discoveries....
Clearly the method aims at self-knowledge, though at all times it has also
been put to a superstitious use." C.G. Jung

The Oracles and Divination section and the Synchronicity
section have been given their own page:

Scientist: For getting an
idea of what it might mean to say that something is unlikely.
Unlikely is partly a matter of perspective.

(long pause)

Scientist: I also think you
should start playing with some logical and mathematical models that seem
like they might be relevant; maybe like the mathematical theory of groups
as it applies to symmetry, and the Madyamika logic of the Middle-Way school
of Buddhism.

Interviewer: Isn't Group
Theory hard?

Scientist: You're not going
to try proving theorems. It's to help you understand symmetry, and especially
broken symmetry.

But that's not why I'm glad you
didn't get involved in studying statistics yet. I'm glad because you ought
to jump right in and start working with the material you are interested
in.

Interviewer: But I have no
idea how to do that!

Scientist: Neither does anybody
else. Have you talked to the Tibetan lamas about your interest?

Scientist: I think being
of benefit to people is why they have multiple incarnations!

Tools for Thought

THE CALCULUS OF INDICATION

First presented in the book Laws of Form,

by G. Spencer Brown.

"The theme of this book is that a universe comes
into being when a space is severed or taken apart. The skin of a living
organism cuts off an outside from an inside. So does the circumference
of a circle in a plane. By tracing the way we represent such a severance,
we can begin to reconstruct, with an accuracy and coverage that appear
almost uncanny, the basic forms underlying linguistic, mathematical, physical,
and biological science, and can begin to see how the familiar laws of our
own experience follow inexorably from the original act of severance."

The best presentation of the Laws
of Form material available on the Web.

"The Substance of a
Non-Numerical Arithmetic is the intellectual concept of the "Existence
of Objects", whether the Objects are real or imagined. Needless to
say, any such discussion of existential import ultimately has a spiritual
genesis."

Kali.
"You can use Kali to draw Escher-like tilings, infinite knots, and
other cool stuff. It lets you draw patterns in all of the 17 planar symmetry
groups." Kali is one of ten programs offered at the

The
Geometry Center: Center for the Computation and Visualization of Geometric
Structures, a
National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center at the
University of Minnesota which offers a number of other resources including